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# blowhole

noun (a blowhole, blowholes)

«blowhole» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A blowhole is the hole on the top of the head of a whale, dolphin or porpoise, through which it breathes air. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/blowhole/#m1)
2. A blowhole is a hole in rocks on the coast where sea water is pushed up and sprays into the air when waves come in. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/blowhole/#m2)
3. A blowhole can also be a hole in ice where seals come up to breathe. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/blowhole/#m3)

### In the lessons

In science lessons, whales and dolphins are mammals, not fish, so they breathe air through their blowhole; the spray you see is warm breath, not a fountain of seawater. In geography, coastal blowholes form when waves erode caves in cliffs (famous ones in Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii). Phrases: «spray from the blowhole», «come up to breathe».

### Examples

- The whale breathed out through its blowhole. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/blowhole/#x1)
- A dolphin has one blowhole on the top of its head. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/blowhole/#x2)
- Water sprayed high from the blowhole in the rocks. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/blowhole/#x3)
- We visited the blowhole at Kiama in Australia. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/blowhole/#x4)
- The seal popped its head out of a blowhole in the ice. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/blowhole/#x5)
- Whales close their blowhole when they dive. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/blowhole/#x6)
- Stay behind the fence at the blowhole; waves can knock you over. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/blowhole/#x7)
- Some whales have two blowholes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/blowhole/#x8)

### Note

One word. Countable. Myth: whales do not shoot water out; the «spout» is mostly breath mixed with water drops. Baleen whales have two blowholes, toothed whales one. Safety: coastal blowholes and rock platforms are dangerous in big waves.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «blowhole» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/blowhole/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«blowhole» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/blowhole.html) on Mova free.